Memories Long Forgotten
by misswildfire
Summary: It’s been eleven years since Chihiro's adventure. To her, it is nothing but a distant memory, a dream even. Chihiro, now in university, is haunted by a man with jade green eyes. What does he want with her? Will she remember the Spirit World in time?
1. Chapter 1

A young girl sighed as she walked along the banks of a river. She briefly paused as she turned to face the narrow body of water. No matter how bad of a day she had, Chihiro could always count on the river to cheer her up. She never knew why, but she had long ago learned not to question it. She glanced at her watch. Realizing she was going to be late for her favourite class, she took one last glance at the river before dashing off.

"Chihiro, what's up with you? You're being unusually quiet," her friend and roommate Amanda said.

"Nothing, I guess I'm just spaced out today," Chihiro replied, smiling at the other girl. They had known each other for the last two years, but it was really scary how well the other girl could read her sometimes.

"So what do you think of that project the Professor gave us?" Amanda asked as she gathered her long black hair into a ponytail.

"I think it'll be really cool," Chihiro replied. Actually, she thought that the project would be a lot of fun. The Professor was giving them a chance to do a project on mythological creatures in Japan's history. They had drawn the names of creatures from a hat and Chihiro had drawn water dragons. Amanda had told her that it fit her, seeing as though she spent so much time by the river that ran through the campus.

"I still think you're lucky to have drawn a dragon," Amanda commented as she sat on her bed.

"Like drawing a thunder bird isn't cool," Chihiro retorted, throwing a pillow at the other girl. Like Amanda, she had long hair that went down to her back. However, unlike her friend, who usually kept her hair loose except for today, she preferred to keep it tied up in a ponytail using a purple elastic band. There was something almost magical about the band, but Chihiro couldn't place it, nor did she say anything about it to anyone. Back in high school, everyone had thought that she was weird. Making a comment about her elastic would have only made things worse. She shuddered at the thought of what would have happened.

"Thinking of high school again?" Amanda asked, getting up to sit beside the other girl. It had taken a few months, but eventually Amanda had learned what Chihiro had gone through at school in her old town. If she ever got a hold of those asses, they would regret the day they were born. _Not the time to be thinking about that,_ Amanda thought as she gave her friend a hug.

"Don't think about those assholes. They're jerks and who needs them? What we need to do is have one night of fun before we buckle down and do our homework." She grinned as she stood up and pulled the other girl up.

When Chihiro had moved to the town where her parents now lived, she had known that fitting in was never easy. What she hadn't known was that she would have such a hard time. It was almost like the children had known she was different, and had treated her as such. They had begun to call her names, tease her, beat her up and alienate her. Over the years, she had become sullen, quiet and withdrawn.

By the time she had graduated from high school and been accepted into her university of choice, Chihiro had made a promise to herself that her university experience would be nothing like her high school experience. She had wanted to make friends, to live a different life, so she had made herself over. Not appearance-wise (she was happy with the way she looked) but attitude-wise. She had gained confidence in her abilities and, during the first couple of months, she had been able to make a few friends. One of those friends was currently sitting across from her, busy doing her makeup.

However, not everything in high school had been bad. Chihiro had discovered a love for history, more specifically ancient history. There was just something about it that fascinated her, drew her in, and captivated her. Sometimes she felt as if she couldn't get enough of the subject. Amanda had often teased her about it when she had found Chihiro in the library reading another book on something they had learned in class. She would just smile at the other girl and return to whatever she was reading at the moment.

"Are you going to get ready?" Amanda asked, jolting the younger girl out of her reverie.

"Ya, sure," Chihiro replied smiling. "Got any suggestions on what I should wear?" she asked.

"You bet I do," Amanda replied. The glint in her eye told Chihiro she was probably better off not asking, but it was too late now. She was stuck with whatever Amanda came up with, which was admittedly good most of the time.

There were advantages to being twenty-one, she could defiantly say that. For one thing, she and Amanda no longer needed to sneak into clubs; they could now buy their own drinks. Chihiro didn't drink a lot, but she didn't mind a drink every once in a while.

From her seat at the bar, she could see a few pair of eyes on her. Amanda had really outdone herself this time. Somehow her friend had managed to convince her to wear a pair of snug leather pants that showed off all her curves, or so Amanda told her. Her friend had given her a jade green halter top. _Like the eyes of the man in my dream,_ Chihiro thought, glancing at her friend. She shook her head, determined not to think about the dream, but she could already feel her mind going down the familiar path.

The dreams were of a man with dark hair that was tinted green and jade green eyes. Occasionally, a dark-haired female would also be in the dreams. Chihiro had always gotten the feeling that she knew them, but she could never place them.

The dreams had begun shortly after she and her family had moved to their new town. The dreams had come to her nearly every night for several years, and then they had become less and less frequent. However, she had never forgotten the dreams. How could she when she still got them occasionally? Even if she didn't, Chihiro highly doubted that she would be able to forget them. They were too vivid, almost like a memory.

"Spaced out again?" Amanda asked, appearing beside her.

"Kind of," she admitted, knowing that it was no use lying to the other girl.

"You worry me sometimes," her friend replied, ordering another drink for herself.

"How so?" Chihiro asked, turning around to face the bar, the feeling of people staring at her starting to become uncomfortable.

"You're spacing out a lot more then normal lately. Have you had another one of your dreams?" she asked, knowing that for a few days after these "dreams" her friend would become quiet and withdrawn and spaced out easily

"I guess I am, aren't I?" Chihiro laughed, trying to get her friend to relax. She didn't want her to worry. She was fine, she was…well, she really didn't know, but she did know she was fine. They were just dreams, a figment of her imagination…but why did the feeling that she knew the man in her dreams keep nagging at her?

"You know there's a guy over there who's staring at you, right?" Amanda asked, subtly pointing in the direction Chihiro was supposed to look.

"Ya, I know," Chihiro replied, taking a small sip of her drink.

"Well?"

"Well what?" she demanded.

"Aren't you going to do anything about it?" Amanda asked, looking over at the guy. _If she doesn't want him, then I'll take him,_ Amanda thought.

"If you want him, go for it," Chihiro replied, talking another look at the guy.

"Are you nuts? He's freaking gorgeous, hot as hell, girl!" Amanda replied. Sometimes she wondered if her friend was blind to hot, gorgeous guys.

"Not everyone is as boy crazy as you," Chihiro replied. "Go and talk to him, I'll see you back at the apartment. I'm a little tired anyway."

"If you're sure…."

"Definitely, now go have fun!" Chihiro said, laughing as she pushed her friend in the direction of the guy who had caught her interest. She took another sip of her drink and settled back in her seat, watching as Amanda approached the man she had pointed out seconds before and asked him to dance.

_Standing in an empty field, a young girl in her early twenties could see an old-style Japanese building looming in the distance._

_Chihiro sighed as she continued walking. She had this eerie feeling that someone was watching her, but every time she turned around, she couldn't see anyone. It was beginning to freak her out. _

"_Chhiiiihiiiiiirooooo," a voice whispered_

"_Who's there?" she questioned, spinning around. _

"_Chhiiiihiiiiiiroooo," the voice whispered again. _

"_Show yourself!" she said, fear beginning to take its hold._

"_Chhiiiihiiiiiirooooo, yyyyooouuu mmuuuussst rreeetuuurrrnnn," the voice said again, getting louder_ _each time._

"_Who are you? What do you want?" she cried_, _turning in the direction the voice had last come from. Suddenly, a body appeared out of nowhere, standing right in front of her. _

"_You! What do you want? Leave me alone!" she cried as she turned from the man and ran. _

"_Chihiro, you need to come back to us," the man called after her. _

"Leave me alone!" she yelled sitting up in her bed. "Just leave me alone," she whispered again to a seemingly empty room.

Chihiro paused and looked up from the text book she was reading in the library. She rubbed her eyes, trying to banish the tiredness she could feel creeping up on her. Glancing at her watch, she saw that it was late. _I should probably go to bed soon, _she thought as she slowly began to put her books away. 

"Goodnight Chihiro," the librarian said cheerfully as the young girl made her way back to her apartment. 

"Goodnight," Chihiro replied in turn. She smiled once more at the elderly librarian before returning her attention to the path that would take her back to her bed. She and Amanda had discovered this path sometime last year. It cut more than fifteen minutes off of the time it would normally take to walk from their apartment building to the campus library.  
Granted, the walk was only twenty-five minutes, but hey, who would want to walk for twenty-five minutes when you could walk for ten, especially late at night. Then again, adults have always warned children never to cut through bushes late at night, but neither Chihiro nor Amanda had ever come across anyone "dangerous" on the path. 

"_Chiiiihiiiiroooooo."  
_

"Who's there?" Chihiro asked, quickening her pace. 

"_Chiiiihiiiiroooooo."  
_

"Who's there? Show yourself!" she called out, turning around. 

"_Chhiiiihiiiiiirooooo, yyyyooouuu mmuuuussst rreeetuuurrrnnn."  
_

"Who's there?" Chihiro called out again, voice quivering in fear as she turned around in a circle. 

"_Chihiro, you need to come back to us," the man called after her.  
_

"That's what the man in my dream said," she whispered to herself, running towards her apartment. 

"Chihiro! What the hell?" Amanda said as she watched her friend and roommate burst through the door. 

"Woods…voices…man…dreams," Chihiro panted, trying to catch her breath. 

"Whoa, slow down and try that again," Amanda said as she gently **lead** [_led_ her friend to the couch. 

"I heard voices in the woods, they were calling my name. They were saying stuff like I needed to return," Chihiro said, gladly accepting the glass of water her friend offered. 

"Are you sure they weren't in your head?" the other girl asked. 

"Amanda!" Chihiro cried. 

"What? It's always a possibility. I mean, with those dreams you've been having lately it very possible that the voices in the wood were due to lack of sleep," the dark-haired girl said. 

"That's just it. It couldn't have been in my head. I could have sworn I saw someone." 

"I think you're just overtired and you're letting the dreams get to you," Amanda said. "You should try and get some sleep tonight. There's no man in the woods calling your name, it's nothing but your imagination. You're stressed out and way overtired, so naturally you're letting the dreams affect you." 

"No, this isn't my imagination! Don't you believe me, Amanda?" Chihiro asked, her eyes pleading with the other girl. 

"What I do believe is what I've already said- you're overtired and should probably go to bed and get some sleep. I was just about to hit the sackmyself when you came crashing in," the older girl said, sticking her tongue out. "Now, off to bed shall we?" Seeing that she had already lost the fight, Chihiro simply nodded and followed her friend into the back of the apartment. _Maybe Amanda is right, maybe it's just my imagination. _

"Chihiro! Chihiro, wait up!" Amanda called, jogging to catch up to her friend. "What's up? You seemed spaced out. Don't tell me, you're still freaked out by what happened on the path?" her friend questioned, draping her arm across the other girl's shoulders.

"Maybe, I just...I just can't stop thinking about it, you know? Maybe I'm letting my dreams get to me or maybe I did hear that voice, maybe it wasn't a part of my imagination." The younger girl sighed as her friend removed her arm and they walked to class.

"Don't worry about it so much, Chi. Just relax, take in the beautiful...Chi?" she asked as she felt her friend tense up beside her. "What's wrong?"

"Do you see that guy other there, the one with the green tinted hair?" she asked, waiting for her friend to nod before continuing. "That's the man from my dreams."

"You're imagining things. The man in your dreams is nothing but that, **your** dreams. He doesn't really exist. That's just a guy who maybe looks a little bit like him," Amanda stated, her patience with her friend beginning to wear thin.

"You don't believe me, do you?" Chihiro asked, turning to face her friend.

"What I do believe Chi is that you're stressed out and allowing your dreams to get to you. You're mixing up reality with fiction," Amanda reasoned logically, her face softening a bit. "You know what you need? Ice cream to forget about your dreams." She smiled as she began to drag the other girl along with her.

"What about class?" Chihiro demanded, letting herself be dragged away.

"We'll get the notes from Mina later, don't worry about it," Amanda replied, letting go of her friend once she was certain that the younger girl was coming with her.

_Maybe getting some ice cream and talking about the dreams will help,_ Chihiro thought as she fell in step with her friend.

They chatted as they walked to a little ice cream shop they had discovered in second year. It sold the best ice cream in town, but since it was a little hole in the wall, not very many people knew about it, which suited the girls fine. They usually went to the shop to eat ice cream and have some privacy to talk.

"So," Amanda said after they had ordered their ice creams and sat at their usual table.

"So, what?" Chihiro asked, looking at her friend.

"Any hot guys catch your eye?" her friend asked, wiggling her eyebrow.

"Not really…."

"That sounds more like 'there is a guy, but I don't want to talk about him.' Now spill girl!" Amanda chastised, poking the other girl in the arm.

"Remember the guy that came up to us the other day in the cafeteria?"

"Ya, the one with the brown hair and sexy ice blue eyes?" Amanda nodded remembering.

"Him, yes. He's kind of been flirting with me lately and he's nice and everything…."

"Then go on a date with him!"

"I don't know…"

"Pffft, just go on a date! It won't kill you," Amanda exclaimed "Besides, I'll help you get ready for it." Her eyes lit up at the prospect of finally having her friend on a date.

"Alright! Alright! I'll go, just get that gleaming, scheming look out of your eyes!" Chihiro laughed as they continued to eat their ice cream and for once in the last several weeks, she wasnot thinking about her dreams.


	2. Chapter 2

_Darkness surrounded her. She continued to walk ahead, not quite knowing what was compelling her to walk forward, to walk further into this darkness that never seemed to end. Suddenly, she could saw a small ray of light appear. She grinned to herself. She was almost out of the dark. From what she had been able to gather from her early explorations of wherever she was, the young girl was in a tunnel. _Where does it lead to?_ she wondered as she quickened her pace_, _eager to see what lay beyond the ray of light. _

_As she ran, the tiny ray of light she had first seen became bigger and bigger. Suddenly she ran through the light and came face to face with beautiful rolling fields. In the distance she could just make out a building. _Maybe someone will be there and they can tell me where I am. _Walking through the field, the dark-haired girl could not help and think how beautiful the fields were. _I've never seen anything like this in my life! I wonder where I am?_ she thought as she continued towards the building. Soon enough, a bridge came into view. She stopped in front of it and looked at the building that stood majestically before her. _

_Using what she knew from her history classes, the young girl was able to deduce that the building was from the Nara or Heian Period. The building had at least five levels with several balconies and glass windows. The body of the building was a lighter red with green shingles and gold accents. She felt as if there was something familiar about this building, but she couldn't place where she had seen it before. She felt as if seeing the building was pulling at long lost memories. As she walked across the bridge she could feel a prickling sensation along her back. She stopped briefly for a moment and looked behind her. Reassuring herself that no one was there, she pressed on. _I wonder what this building is used for?_ she wondered. Most of the buildings she had seen like this were old, and run down. This building, however, was obviously well taken care of. _

_Taking a deep breath, she continued her trek towards the building. She couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching her. _

"_Sen," a voice called out. _

"_Who's there?" she demanded, turning around. _

"_Sen, come back to us, we need you," a feminine voice softly called out. _

"_Reveal yourself! Who's there?" she demanded again, looking in every direction in hopes of seeing whoever was calling to her. _

"_Chihiro, Lin is right, we need you," a male voice called. _

"_Tell me who you are!" she screamed, slowly backing away from the building. _A bathhouse,_ she silently corrected. _

"_You don't remember us? I'm Haku," the masculine voice said. _

"_Haku?" she said. _Why does that name sound familiar? _"Please, whoever you are, show yourself!" As soon as Chihiro had finished her sentence a woman materialized before her. _

"_You don't remember me, Sen?" the voice said. Chihiro looked at the woman and slowly shook her head. While the woman did look familiar, Chihiro was unable to place where she had seen her before._

"_We need you Sen, the bathhouse and the Spirit World needs you." _

"Sen?" Chihiro called out.

"Nope, just me," Amanda said, sitting beside her friend on her bed. "What kind of dream were you having? Sen, Haku and Lin, who are they?" she asked.

"Amanda? It was just a dream then, none of it was real," Chihiro said, whispering the last part to herself. She was relieved that it wasn't real.

"What was your dream about? You were moving quite a bit on the bed. Woke me up a few times last night," her friend said.

"Wow, that was quite a dream, but really Chi, a Spirit World and bathhouses?" she questioned after her friend relayed what she remembered about her dream.

"It was quite a dream," Chihiro said.

"Girl, you are way too stressed! You need to go out on this date tonight. Unwind, have some fun!" Amanda said clapping her hands together and rising from the bed. Chihiro groaned and tried to bury herself deeper into her pillows.

About ten hours later, Chihiro sat at a table in a restaurant across from her date. This was about the last place she wanted to be…actually it was the last place she wanted to be. She'd rather be anywhere else in the world. _Where did Amanda find this guy?_ she wondered as she sat there listening to her date drone on and on about who knows what.

The only reason Chihiro was still sitting with this guy was to humour the other girl because she knew her friend was worrying about her. She had no intentions of actually going into a serious relationship with anyone, but a date to have some fun couldn't hurt, right? Well, if this date was actually fun, it would be a different question all together. So far this date sucked a lot.

"…and the boat actually started after we finally added…" Chihiro tuned back out as her companion continued to tell the story he had started at the beginning of their date which had been…she glanced at her watch…just a little over an hour ago! How long did it take this man to tell one story? One! Not five, not ten, but one! She was going crazy! How was she going to end this date without being rude? What she needed was an intervention, something that would cause this date to end…but what?

"Would you excuse me? I need to go to the bathroom." Without bothering to wait for a reply, she got up and headed in the general direction of the bathroom door which, conveniently, was beside the front door. She quietly slipped out without being noticed by her date and took her cell phone out from her purse. Chihiro quickly dialed a number and pressed the tiny phone to her ear.

"Hello," the voice on the other end said.

"Get me out of here!" Chihiro demanded.

"Chi? What's going on?" Amanda asked, concern evident in her voice.

"The date is a disaster, that's what! Now get me out of here! Anything, make up an excuse, just call me back in a few minutes with an emergency of some sorts. I'll tell you about the date later." She waited for a confirmation from her friend before hanging up and quietly going back inside of the restaurant. As she made her way back to her seat she caught a glimpse of green hair out of the corner of her eye. _Jade green hair…why does that seem familiar?_ Chihiro asked herself. She shook herself mentally and returned her attention to her date. Finally, after ten minutes, her cell phone rang, and on the other end was her friend making up the biggest fake emergency the world has ever seen.

"Excuse me, but I've got to go. My roommate is in a bit of a bind and she needs my help."

"Do you really have to go? Isn't there anyone else who can help her?" her date asked, not wanting the enchanting female before him to leave.

"If there was, she wouldn't have called. I'm really sorry," Chihiro said, plastering a fake smile on her face. "It was nice meeting you." Smiling one last time she raced for the exit.

"First thing I'm doing when I get home is going to bed," she muttered to herself.

_All she could see was darkness. She walked ahead, searching for something. Chihiro frowned. Somehow this seemed all too familiar. Where had she seen it before? She couldn't place it, but decided to walk on. _

"_Sen," a__voice called out. _That name again,_ Chihiro thought. _

"_Who's there? What do you want?" she asked, turning around and trying to find the body that the voice belonged to. _

"_Sen, come back to us, we need you," a female voice called out. _

"_Chihiro, Lin is right, we need you," a male voice called. _

"_Who's Lin? How do you know my name?"_

"_Chihiro, the Spirit World is in danger, it needs you," the masculine voice said. _

"_What is the Spirit World? Wait! Don't go, please answer me!" she yelled, but it was no use, they were gone. She blinked and suddenly everything went black. _

The dreams, or as Amanda referred to them, nightmares, were beginning to take their toll on Chihiro. She was having them nearly every night. Amanda was letting her sleep through the morning classes they had together so she could try and get some sleep. It wasn't doing much, but it was better than nothing.

She was currently sitting in the library during her spare time, attempting to catch up on the last two day's lectures. For some reason she was having problems opening the file that Amanda sent that contained this morning's lecture notes.

"May I sit here?" a beep baritone voice asked, startling Chihiro from her thoughts. She looked up and came face to face with a man with jade green hair. _The guy at the restaurant!_ her mind cried. She smiled and welcomed him to the table. They sat in silence for several minutes, each working in complete silence.

"What's your major?" Chihiro asked suddenly.

"I haven't declared a major yet," the man replied. "What about you?"

"Ancient History of Japan. By the way, I'm Chihiro," she answered.

"Sounds boring," he commented

"Everyone says that about history. I find it very interesting," she snapped.

"Woah, I didn't mean to offend," the man said, offering her a smile.

"It's ok, I guess I'm just a little tired." She smiled, returning to her work. She glanced at her watch and her heart nearly stopped. Amanda was going to kill her. She hated it when people were late. "I've gotta go!" she said, gathering her books up and throwing them in her bag. She was supposed to meet Amanda at the ice cream parlor in ten minutes and it took fifteen to get there! _She's going to be so mad!_

"Will I see you again?" he asked, confused at why she was leaving so quickly and wondering if it had anything to do with him.

"Maybe, but I've really got to go now. Bye!" she called out as she rushed out of the library.

"Hey! Sorry I'm late. I started talking to this guy at the library and lost track of time and…," Chihiro said as she doubled over panting and gasping for breath.

"Is he hot?" Amanda demanded, smiling from her seat.

"Umm…"

"I'll take that as a yes! Now get over here! We have so much studying to do while we eat some delicious new ice cream that I took the liberty of ordering for us. Thank me later," the other girl replied. Chihiro just laughed at her friend as she took a seat across from her.

"Ok, so spill, who was the guy?" Amanda asked after several moments of silence. This was the first guy she had ever heard of that had made her best friend lose track of time.

"I have no idea, he just asked if he could sit beside me and I said sure. Come to think of it, I never got a name from him. The weird thing isthat he looks like the guy from the restaurant from my disaster date last week. And this isn't the first time I've seen him either," Chihiro recalled, remembering the couple of times she had seen him around campus.

"Ohhh, Chi's got a hot stalker. Seriously, girl, if you don't want him, I'll take him!" The girls laughed at that comment. Everyone knew that Amanda was boy crazy. She loved to look at guys, but that's all she did, look. But with the way she went on about them, some people who didn't know her might think she was a whore. But oh no, she wasn't a whore. Amanda had standards and rarely took anyone to her bed. She rarely dated either.

"We should get some studying done. Midterms are coming up, after all," Chihiro commented after they had both calmed down enough. Amanda nodded and pulled out her books.


	3. Chapter 3

Chihiro tightened the grip on her hood as the wind threatened to force it off of her face. She looked up at the sky and glared at the clouds which were turning a dangerous shade of grey. Shaking her head, the young girl picked up her pace, wanting to get back to her room before the rain began to fall.

She and Amanda had plans for that night, but, with the weather changing, they might just be stuck in their dorm for the rest of the night. _Not that it really bothers me. She probably wanted to go out clubbing._ Chihiro didn't mind going clubbing every once in a while, but Amanda wanted to go all the time and if it was left up to her eccentric roommate, they would be going to clubs almost every night. _While she tries to hook me up with guys._

She knew that her friend meant well, but none of the guys that Amanda ever set her up with were right. There was just something... something that Chihiro couldn't put her finger on. She remembered one night when Amanda asked her what was "missing" from the latest guy that she had set her up with. Chihiro had responded with that she didn't know, but she would let her know when she found that something in a guy. Her friend had just smiled and told Chihiro that she was just too picky when it came to guys. _At this rate, she might be right,_ the dark-haired girl mused as she cut behind one of the buildings in an effort to get inside to her nice, warm room sooner. The last thing she needed was to get a cold. Thankfully, she didn't get sick often but when she did, she really got sick.

"Looks like it's going to rain soon," a familiar voice called out from somewhere behind her.

"Oh, it you!" she replied in surprise. The last person she expected to see out here in this weather was him. Not that she had seen him since that day in the library a few weeks ago.

"Yeah, it's me. I'm glad I caught you," he said, grinning. She glanced at him from the corner of her eye as she continued to walk. They walked in comfortable silence for a few minutes.

"So why were you glad that you caught me?" Chihiro asked, finally breaking the easy silence that had fallen between them.

"Umm, right, about that. I was wondering if I could take you out for a cup of coffee tonight, in the interest of getting to know you better." He looked at her face, gauging her reaction.

"I umm," she stammered. No guy had ever asked her out before. While she had only met him for a few minutes in the library, she had felt at ease with him. She was about to tell him that she could meet him for coffee later tonight when she remembered her plans with Amanda. _Not that she would mind in this case. She'd probably be mad that I didn't blow her off in the interest of a hot guy, _Chihiro thought, smiling to herself. "I'm sorry, but I've got plans tonight with my friend," she replied apologetically, stopping in front of the path that would lead her back to her dorm.

"Oh, that's fine. Do you have a number I so I can call you to get together at a more convenient time?" the boy asked politely. She nodded and quickly wrote down her number on a piece of paper that she'd fished out of her bag. She handed it to him and began to walk away but stopped and turned to face him again.

"You know, I just gave you my number but I don't even know your name."

"Haku," he replied, smiling at her. She smiled back at him before replying.

"I'm Chihiro, nice to meet you Haku. Give me a call soon and we'll get together for that coffee that you promised!" _Why does that name sound so familiar?_ Chihiro thought as she looked at him a final time before turning around and dashing towards her dorm, trying desperately to get inside before the rain started to fall.

"You have no idea," Haku said as he watched her go and the rain started to fall. The young man stayed for a few more moments, looking at the building before turning and disappearing into the rain.

~*~

Chihiro groaned as she put the down her book. This was getting absolutely nowhere. She had a huge research project due in two weeks and she had nothing done. _If the professor would have given us some actual instructions instead of the incredibly vague instructions that we did get, I wouldn't be so frustrated right now._ She loved history, she really did, but sometimes it was just so annoying.

She hated taking courses in history that she had absolutely no interest in whatsoever. Chihiro loved ancient history, Ancient Japan, China, Egypt, Mesopotamia etc. Studying Twentieth Century Global History just wasn't of any interest to her. Not only that, but the professor was a boring lecturer which made it really hard for Chihiro to pay attention in class.

Glancing at her watch, she groaned and tossed the book she was reading down. It was time to get ready for that class. _Why do I even bother to go? _She wondered as she put her laptop in her bag. _It's not as if anyone pays attention anymore. No one knows what's going on in the class; no one takes notes from the presentations or anything. _Heck, even she didn't pay attention, sometimes watching video clips on her computer or reading up on a particular subject that had caught her interest.

Chihiro quickly exited her dorm and began the fifteen minute walk that would take her to the ever dreaded class. Listening to her mp3 player and not paying attention, Chihiro never saw the boy in front of her until the last minute and by then it was too late to prevent them from smacking into each other and ending up on the ground.

"Oh!" the boy groaned, holding his head with his left hand. Chihiro glanced over from her position on her stomach, which she had thankfully landed on instead of her back, saving her computer from being squished to an untimely death.

"Are you alright?" Chihiro called, picking herself off the ground and slowly walking over to the boy, taking internal stock of any possible damages on her body.

"I think I'm fine," he said, still holding his head as he tried to get up. Grabbing his arm to help him stand, the young woman finally got a good look at his face.

"Haku! It's you! Oh gosh, I'm so sorry for knocking you over, I really wasn't paying attention and I should have been…"

"It's ok, I'm fine, really," he said, cutting off her rambling. "See? No blood or anything." He smiled, showing her the hand that had been holding his head.

"Are you sure you're alright?" she asked again, letting go of his arm and backing up a few steps.

"I'm sure," the green haired man smiled reassuringly at her. "You know, I was going to call and ask you if it would be possible for you to join me for coffee?"

Chihiro looked at him blankly, forgetting for a brief moment that she had told him to call her to ask her again for coffee. After knocking him down, joining him for coffee was the least she could do. That and, for the first time, Chihiro was actually interested in a guy. Not to say that growing up she never had anyone ask her out, but she had always turned them down. No guy had ever interested her. Amanda had commented that she seemed to be saving herself for someone. _Maybe's she's right,_ Chihiro mused and quickly realized that she was taking too long to give Haku an answer.

"How about we go for ice cream? I've never been a big fan of coffee. Amanda and I found this really great place that's close to campus a little while ago," Chihiro mentioned.

"Ice cream it is then!" Haku exclaimed, shooting a smile in her direction. "How about I meet you tonight?"

"Sounds good to me," she quickly gave him directions to the ice cream parlour before they parted ways.

~*~

_Darkness surrounded her. Chihiro rubbed her hands together, trying to ward off the cold she could feel. She looked around, sensing that somehow this was familiar. She couldn't place where she had seen it, but decided to walk on. _

"_Sen. Chihiro," a voice called out. _

"_Chihiro, come back to us, we need you," a masculine voice calls. _

"_Who are you? What do you want with me? Why can't you just leave me alone!?" Chihiro screamed into the darkness. _

"_Chihiro, please don't be scared. Try to remember," the male voice called again. _

"_Remember what? What do you want me to remember?" Chihiro looked all around her, trying to pinpoint where the voice was coming from. It seemed to be echoing from all around her. Finally turning back in the original direction she was facing, she nearly fell over in shock when a young man around her age with dark green hair and green eyes appeared before her._

"_Who are you?" she asked, voice trembling. _

"_Please don't be scared Sen, don't you remember me?" Shaking her head, she watched as the young man frowned. _

"_Please try and remember Chihiro. Don't you remember the bath house in the Spirit World? The adventure you had all those years ago…" the young boy trailed off as he began to fade from sight. "Remember the bath house Sen," the voice said. _

"No wait! Don't go! What adventure? What bath house?"

"What are you talking about?" another voice asked, jolting Chihiro out of her sleep. She sat up and tried to rub the sleep out of her eyes. "You had that dream again, didn't you?" Amanda sat on the side of Chihiro's bed, waiting for her to answer. The younger girl nodded and sighed.

"The dreams are getting more detailed. I saw a boy this time with green hair and the most amazing green eyes you've ever seen," she whispered, hugging her pillow to her chest.

"You've been having these dreams for years Chi. Maybe they've been trying to tell you something. Don't you think it's time to maybe, you know, listen?"

"Maybe you're right. The question is, what do they want me to remember? The boy mentioned something about an adventure and a bath house, but this is all just a dream isn't it?"

"Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. Like I said, maybe it's time you listened to your dreams," Amanda said, poking the other girl's pillow. "Now come on and get up, otherwise we're going to be late for breakfast and we'll never get any of the good stuff!" Chihiro smiled as she watched her roommate grab her clothes and disappear to the bathroom down the hall. Maybe Amanda was right and her dreams were telling her something. Shaking her head, Chihiro pushed the dream from her mind and started to get ready for the day. They were just silly dreams, nothing more, right?


End file.
